<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
management	O
system	O
that	O
emphasizes	O
creating	O
value	O
for	O
customers	O
,	O
continuous	O
improvement	O
,	O
and	O
eliminating	O
waste	O
as	O
a	O
sustainable	O
data	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
and	O
system	O
integration	O
practice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
has	O
parallels	O
with	O
other	O
lean	O
disciplines	O
such	O
as	O
lean	O
manufacturing	O
,	O
lean	B-Application
IT	I-Application
,	O
and	O
lean	O
software	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
was	O
first	O
introduced	O
by	O
John	O
Schmidt	O
in	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
blog	O
articles	O
starting	O
in	O
January	O
2009	O
entitled	O
10	O
Weeks	O
To	O
Lean	B-General_Concept
Integration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
white	O
paper	O
on	O
the	O
topic	O
in	O
April	O
2009	O
and	O
the	O
book	O
Lean	B-General_Concept
Integration	I-General_Concept
,	O
An	O
Integration	O
Factory	O
Approach	O
to	O
Business	O
Agility	O
in	O
May	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
builds	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
set	O
of	O
principles	O
that	O
were	O
developed	O
for	O
lean	O
manufacturing	O
and	O
lean	O
software	O
development	O
which	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Toyota	O
Production	O
System	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Integration	O
solutions	O
can	O
be	O
broadly	O
categorized	O
as	O
either	O
Process	O
Integration	O
or	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Integration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
as	O
an	O
integration	O
approach	O
must	O
be	O
sustainable	O
and	O
holistic	O
unlike	O
other	O
integration	O
approaches	O
that	O
either	O
tackle	O
only	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
problem	O
or	O
tackle	O
the	O
problem	O
for	O
a	O
short	O
period	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
drives	O
elimination	O
of	O
waste	O
by	O
adopting	O
reusable	O
elements	O
,	O
high	O
automation	O
and	O
quality	O
improvements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
organizational	O
focus	O
is	O
required	O
for	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
principles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
predominant	O
organizational	O
model	O
is	O
the	O
Integration	B-General_Concept
Competency	I-General_Concept
Center	I-General_Concept
which	O
may	O
be	O
structured	O
as	O
a	O
central	O
group	O
or	O
a	O
more	O
loosely	O
coupled	O
federated	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
principles	O
of	O
Lean	B-General_Concept
Integration	I-General_Concept
may	O
at	O
first	O
glance	O
appear	O
similar	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
Six	O
Sigma	O
but	O
there	O
are	O
some	O
very	O
clear	O
differences	O
between	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
mentioned	O
in	O
lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
there	O
are	O
seven	O
core	O
lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
principles	O
vital	O
for	O
deriving	O
significant	O
and	O
sustainable	O
business	O
benefits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
practices	O
transforms	O
integration	O
from	O
an	O
art	O
into	O
a	O
science	O
,	O
a	O
repeatable	O
and	O
teachable	O
methodology	O
that	O
shifts	O
the	O
focus	O
from	O
integration	O
as	O
a	O
point-in-time	O
activity	O
to	O
integration	O
as	O
a	O
sustainable	O
activity	O
that	O
enables	O
organizational	O
agility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
are	O
the	O
advantages	O
derived	O
by	O
adopting	O
the	O
lean	B-General_Concept
integration	I-General_Concept
practices	O
:	O
</s>
